Transcript

Tiocfaidh an samhradh agus fásfaidh an féar
Agus tiocfaidh an duilliúr glas ar bharra na gcraobh,
Tiocfaidh mo rúnsearc le bánú an lae
Agus buailfear tiúin daoithe le cumhaidh ina déidh.

Spleoid ar an fharraige nach ab í atá mór,
Agus tá sí ag goil eadar mé is mo mhíle stór,
D'fhág sí ar an bhaile seo mé ag déanamh bróin,
Is gan dúil le pilleadh as achoíche níos mó.

Scairtigh mé aréir ag an doras ann
Agus scairt mé aríst ar mo (rún-se ar faill),
Sé a dúirt a mamaí liom nach rabh sí ann,
Ná gur éalaigh sí aréir leis an bhuachaill donn.

Tá ceathrar agus fiche acu ar an ranc amháin,
Agus sí mo Mháire-sa an bhean is fearr,
Tá blas na meala uirthi agus an boladh breá,
Is í an pósaí álainn í atá doiligh a fháil.

Tá an oíche seo dorcha agus beidh go lá
Le choil[1] 'na[2] (Mhuine) suas a dh'iarraidh mná
(Sé) Aodh 'ag (Fhionnghailí) a bhfuil aige a sháith,
Ná go bhfagha[3] mise Máire uadh[4] agus faoina lámh.

Is óg is is óg a chuir mise dúil i ngreann,
Is go ndéanfainn súgradh le mo rúin ar (a) faill,
Níl baile cuain ar bith a ngeabhfainn[5] ann
Nach bhfaighinn maighdean óg dheas ar bhuidéal a rum.

Translation

Summer will come and the grass will grow
And green foliage will appear on top of the branches,
My dear love will come at the dawn of the day
And a tune will be played with sorrow after her.

Curse the sea, isn't it vast,
And it lies between me and my dearest beloved,
She left me lamenting in this village,
With no hope of returning ever again.

I called last night at the door there
And I called again for my dearest at an opportune moment,
Her mother told me she wasn't there,
That she slipped away last night with the brown-haired boy.

There are twenty-four of them in the one class,
And my Mary is the best woman,
She tastes of honey and her smell is sweet,
She is a lovely flower who is hard to get.

This night is dark and will be so until morning
To go up to Muine(?) looking for a woman
Hugh McGinley has enough (?),
I will get Mary from him, out of his hands (?).

I was so very young when I took a liking to fun,
And I would flirt with my love when I had a chance (?),
There's no harbour town I could go to
Where I wouldn't find a nice young maiden for a bottle of rum.

Footnotes

Commentary

This is a very popular song in Donegal. It was also popular in Omeath when Irish was the vernacular language of the area. There are several different versions which generally tell the story of a man, often a sailor, who loses his lover to another man. The last two verses sung here are closely related to Mánus Ó Creag's version of 'An Táilliúir Aerach' which can be found elsewhere in the Doegen collection. The whole melody is structured as follows: first phrase, second phrase, second phrase, first phrase. Each phrase consists of four bars. This is often referred to as ABBA form. Quatrain verses are easily set to such melodies and this structure is very popular in the Irish song tradition. Lorcán Ó Muireadhaigh published an eight-verse version with tonic solfa in Amhráin Chúige Uladh (Dundalk, 1927), no. 32. For staff notation of the melody, an alternative version of the song collected in Gaoth Dobhair, county Donegal, and additional bibliographic notes, see Colm Ó Baoill, Amhráin Chúige Uladh (Indreabhán, 2009) 85-6, 159, 185. A five-verse version of this song appears in Liam Ó Conchubhair and Derek Bell, Traditional songs of the north of Ireland (Dublin, 1999), 111-12. The melody closely relates to that sung on the present recording. Other songs set to the same melody include: 'The summer is come and the grass is green' (see P.W. Joyce, Ancient Irish music (Dublin, 1873), 19) and 'Rich and rare were the gems she wore', composed by Thomas Moore (see Charles Villiers Stanford, Irish melodies of Thomas Moore (London, 1894), 18). Another verse (i.e. part 2) of this song is to be found on a separate track in the Doegen collection.